10 Art Shows to See in Los Angeles This January
Olga de Amaral’s refined material spectrum, Marianne Vitale’s tainted minimalism, Marina Stern’s architectural precision, and much more.
Olga de Amaral’s refined material spectrum, Marianne Vitale’s tainted minimalism, Marina Stern’s architectural precision, and much more.
Jamel Shabazz, "A Mother’s Love, Brooklyn, NYC" (1987), pigment print (courtesy the artist)
The new year kicks off with 10 exhibitions that reconsider historical narratives and offer expansive aesthetic possibilities for the future. Elias Hernández mines cartoons, video games, and Salvadoran history in his evolving fantastical universe. Colombian-American artist Carolyn Castaño draws on her late father’s photographic archive in her multimedia works exploring immigration and identity. A group show at Art + Practice brings together 20 artists who celebrate the cultural and communal significance of Black motherhood. And at Angels Gate Cultural Center, Sustainers of Life showcases the work of seven Indigenous women artists who reclaim their own representation, depicting their struggles, strengths, and resilience.
Olga de Amaral
Lisson Gallery, 1037 North Sycamore Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles
Through January 17
Olga de Amaral, "Alquimia 41 (díptico)" (1987), linen, gesso, acrylic, Japanese paper, and gold leaf (© Olga de Amaral; photo courtesy Lisson Gallery)
This concise survey of works by nonagenarian Colombian artist Olga de Amaral features work from the early 1970s through 2018, highlighting significant developments throughout her career. It showcases her distinctive visual language that combines textiles, painting, and sculpture, drawing on Mesoamerican traditions, Japanese aesthetics, minimalism, and fiber art. Working with a refined material spectrum that includes wool, horsehair, paper, gesso, and gold, Amaral created an oeuvre defined by breadth, from the monumental, looping forms of “Eslabón familiar” (1973) to the intimate radiance of her Soles series (2014).
Recent Acquisitions: Photography
Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood, Los Angeles
Through January 19
Lebohang Kganye, “Bodutu feela II” (2013) (© Lebohang Kganye; photo courtesy the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles)
The Getty’s show of recent photography acquisitions presents a snapshot of the medium across the globe right now, while interrogating its history. Highlights include Annie Hsiao-Ching Wang’s personal chronicle of motherhood, The Mother as a Creator (2001–ongoing); South African-born photographer Lebohang Kganye’s ghostly palimpsests; and Omar Victor Diop’s Being There (2023) series, in which the Senegalese photographer inserts himself into 20th-century vernacular photos, creating personal — and political — revisionist narratives.
Elias Hernández: Hidden Relics From The Forbidden Jungle
Central Server Works, 334 Main Street, Suite 5012, Downtown, Los Angeles
Through January 24
Elias Hernández, "The Lonely M3A1 Stuart Tank" (2025), oil on canvas (photo by Chris Hanke, courtesy Central Server Works and Elias Hernández)
Hidden Relics From The Forbidden Jungle is the latest chapter in Elias Hernández’s visionary, evolving universe. In it, the Los Angeles-based artist draws on cartoons, video games, magical realism, and Salvadoran culture and history. Featuring mostly ceramics, this exhibition expands on the paintings and drawings of his University of Southern California Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition Midnight Fantasies last spring. In doing so, Hernández bridges the worlds of art and craft, bringing his surreal characters from the world of fantasy to that of function.
John Birtle: More Is More
Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, 4800 Hollywood Boulevard, Barnsdall Art Park, Los Angeles
Through January 24
John Birtle, “In the Garden of Entangled Beings and or We Go In and Out of Being We printed and found fabrics” (2021–24) (photo by Isik Kaya, courtesy the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery)
Through his mercurial practice, John Birtle questions authorship, challenges meaning, and nurtures community. The title of More Is More, his first institutional solo show, captures the maximalist quality of his work, which ranges from drawings to sculpture to artist books. Drawing on art historical precedents like Pattern & Decoration, feminist art, and seriality, Birtle refashions the mundane and everyday into hopeful visions of a radical future.
Sustainers of Life
Angels Gate Cultural Center, 3601 South Gaffey Street, San Pedro, California
Through January 24
Katie Dorame, "Toypurina: Japchavit Leader, Medicine Woman, Tongva Rebel" (2024), gouache on paper, print reproductions (courtesy the artist and Angels Gate Cultural Center)
Sustainers of Life is a group show that celebrates the struggle, solidarity, and survival of Indigenous women. Curated by Cecelia Caro and Laurie Steelink, it foregrounds their complex identities, exploring themes of intersectionality, motherhood, communal healing, and colonialism. Participating artists are Weshoyot Alvitre, Emily Clarke, Katie Dorame, Eve-Lauryn Little Shell LaFountain, Cara Romero, Corey Stein, and Linda Vallejo.
Marina Stern: Luminary
Bel Ami, 709 North Hill Street, Suite #105 & 103, Chinatown, Los Angeles
CW American Modernism (by appointment), Westwood, Los Angeles
Through January 31
Marina Stern, "(Bags)" (2023), oil on board (photo by Paul Salveson, courtesy the artist’s estate and Bel Ami, Los Angeles)
This two-venue retrospective provides an overdue reappraisal of the work of the late Italian-born American painter Marina Stern (1928–2017). Throughout her long career, Stern eschewed a singular style, incorporating Pop Art, Op Art, Renaissance trompe l’oeil, and architectural precision into her singular vision. Bel Ami will feature her surrealist works from the 1960s, characterized by her signature checkerboard patterns, as well as later still lifes, while her rural landscapes and city scenes will be on view at CW American Modernism.
Carolyn Castaño: Viajero del Tiempo/Time Traveler
ReflectSpace, Glendale Central Library, 222 East Harvard Street, Glendale, California
Through February 1
Carolyn Castaño, "Ruana & Mantel" (2022), watercolor, gouache, fabric, gold foil collaged, fashion appliqués, acrylic on canvas (courtesy the artist and ReflectSpace)
In Viajero del Tiempo/Time Traveler, Colombian-American artist Carolyn Castaño explores the complicated links between immigration, identity, and history through a personal lens. Castaño draws from her late father’s photographic archive to create multimedia works that incorporate drawing, painting, fabric, animation, and furniture. Characterized by a vibrant cacophony, these works celebrate hybridity, while underscoring the disruption of spatial and temporal dislocation.
Marianne Vitale: Blowing Robots
Journal Gallery, 9055 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, California
Through February 14
Marianne Vitale, "Cubes" (2025), steel (photo by Paul Salveson, courtesy the artist and the Journal Gallery)
Marianne Vitale’s sculptures contend with the promises and failures of modernity in terms of both art and economy. Blowing Robots features configurations of colorful steel cubes fashioned from decommissioned locomotives. Once proud icons of American industry are reduced to inert objects, while associations with conquest and nationalism taint the pristine terrain of minimalist abstraction.
Giving You The Best That I Got
Art + Practice, 3401 West 43rd Place, Leimert Park, Los Angeles
Through March 7
Kwame Brathwaite, “Sikolo Brathwaite” (1968/2016), archival pigment print, mounted and framed with Optima (courtesy the Kwame Brathwaite Archive and Philip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles)
Giving You The Best That I Got offers myriad perspectives on a subject conspicuously absent from mainstream art history: Black motherhood. Curated by Dominique Clayton, it features 20 contemporary artists who depict visions of caretaking, guidance, and cultural knowledge. Participating artists include Kwame Brathwaite, Karon Davis, Calida Rawles, Carrie Mae Weems, Jamel Shabazz, and others.
Noé Montes: Regional History
Riverside Art Museum, 3425 Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside, California
Through April 19
Noé Montes, "Dia de Primera Comunion, New Cuyama, CA" (2019), archival pigment print (courtesy the artist and Blue Sky Center)
Regional History presents three bodies of work by Noé Montes that document life in Southern California — Coachella Valley Farmworkers (2015), Cuyama (2019), and Imperial Air (2019–20) — highlighting the voices and experiences of community members. Each series is composed of photographs, interviews, and workshops, allowing residents a measure of agency in constructing their own narratives. They cover a variety of topics, including cultural preservation, activism, and daily life.